Agency (2023) Recap Episode 1

The opening episode gives about what I expected – a glossy, modern workplace drama that hints at the faction wars and succession games to come. There aren’t many surprises, but it’s stylish and has Lee Bo-young at the center, so that’s in its favor.

This episode spends most of its time setting the scene, introducing us to the ad agency and its dynamics. You’d think the advertising business were life or death because the competition is intense. Creative Director GO AH-IN (Lee Bo-young) is the only woman of her rank at the conservative agency and has to work ten times as hard as her, sometimes incompetent, male counterparts just to ensure she’s not ousted.

The agency is most certainly a boys’ club, and they are hyper threatened by Ah-in. Her keen advertising sense and uber competence are legendary, which makes the men around her close ranks to try to keep her from one of the coveted executive spots they feel entitled to. Not that Ah-in lets that stop her.

 

Ah-in knows she’s the best and doesn’t mind being seen as cold and calculating so long as she wins. Her demeanor is often off-putting to men, but game company president JUNG JAE-HOON (Lee Ki-woo) finds her intriguing and tries (unsuccessfully) to recruit her – mostly to his company, but he doesn’t seem like he’d object to a more personal relationship if she were interested.

Despite the difficulties of her position, Ah-in seems to truly love advertising. While she may be great at her job, she’s not what you’d call a natural people manager. She’s constantly yelling at her subordinates for their — to her estimation — subpar work and seems almost impossible to please.

Newbie copywriter JO EUN-JUNG (Jeon Hye-jin) is barely five minutes into her first day when her predecessor marches up to Ah-in on her way out and yells that Ah-in is a hypocrite who uses people for her own gain. Ah-in barely bats an eye and bids her former employee adieu with a sense of disdain.

It’s safe to say that Ah-in is not the warm, fuzzy type or even someone who considers people’s feelings of any value. Thank goodness for kind manager HAN BYUNG-SOO (Lee Chang-hoon) to do the peopling for the team – I’m convinced there might not be a team without him holding everyone together.

Ah-in may not be liked, but no one can deny her instincts or skill. So when Director CHOI CHANG-SOO (Jo Sung-ha) announces that there will be a competition for the exec spot, KWON WOO-CHEOL (Kim Dae-gon) is worried because he’s pretty useless at his job. If it comes down to ability, there’s no contest.

However, as always, there’s politics at play. Woo-cheol may be incompetent, but he is on Chang-soo’s line. Chang-soo clearly respects Ah-in for her skill and efficiency, but she has too much of a mind of her own to be a safe bet. And Chang-soo is determined to snatch up the CEO position when the current CEO retires, so he reluctantly supports the incompetent Woo-cheol who at least will act as his puppet.

 

With the competition in full swing, both Ah-in’s and Woo-cheol’s teams get to work. For Ah-in’s team, that means all-nighters and working themselves to the bone to come up with ad campaign ideas for the presentation. Of course, those ideas are not up to Ah-in’s high standards. Rather than expressing her disappointment in a constructive way, Ah-in simply rips the offending ideas off the wall where her hardworking subordinates stuck them.

Is it so hard to be both competent and not make your underlings cry or feel worthless? Being cold and cruel aren’t the same thing. The team worked late hours for this, and enthusiastic rookie Eun-jung even broke a promise to her little boy that she’d be home on time that night. Does Ah-in really have to yell at and belittle her team to be work superwoman?

Before Ah-in storms out, Eun-jung bravely suggests another idea she had that she hadn’t thought good enough. She’s surprised when Ah-in finds it worthy and selects it for their presentation. Ah-in tells her team to put their rejected ideas back on the wall, knowing that Woo-cheol will try to sneak a peek later.

While Ah-in knows that her work is good, she also understands that she has little chance of winning due to office politics. Her mentor YOO JUNG-SEOK (Jang Hyun-sung) wonders why she’s so worried about her presentation, then. Ah-in just wants to make sure that no one can say she was fired because her work wasn’t up to par.

She goes into the presentation resigned but confident, especially after watching Woo-cheol smugly present one of her team’s rejected ideas. Ah-in gets up and rebuts his idea, easily one-upping him since he played right into her hands.

To everyone’s shock, Chang-soo ends up recommending Ah-in, and she gets the promotion. But of course, there’s scheming afoot. Chang-soo sits in evil-man pose in his office armchair, smirking that Ah-in should enjoy her victory while she can. We end with Ah-in finally showing emotion, crying happy tears as everyone congratulates her.

 

Ah-in gives little away, so it’s hard to get a feel for her at this point beyond her obvious workaholic nature. I want to know more about her, like why she works so hard for this so-called success. She does seem to genuinely love the advertising business, but she’s also incredibly stressed – judging by all the medications she takes for depression, anxiety, and insomnia – and has zero personal life. Why is she so desperate to climb the corporate ladder?

We’ve only caught a glimpse of our other characters, but I like Eun-jung so far. She’s spunky without being irritating and seems tough yet kind. Given that character archetype, I expected her to be single, so I was surprised to learn she’s married with a kid. I like having a working mom in the mix since she’ll bring a completely different perspective. She’s already starting to gain Ah-in’s respect for being good at her job, and I think she’ll balance out Ah-in nicely. Ah-in may be a great marketer, but she’s got some things to learn about life. I’m ready for Ah-in to start learning the value of teamwork, making friends, and filling her empty fridge — the true drama sign of a lonely professional.